Broadcasting Telecasting (Jan-Mar 1956)

GOVERNMENT — ^— — — IKE TALK SETS OFF TIME FREE-FOR-ALL Apropos PRESIDENT EISENHOWER'S Wednesday night broadcast of his reasons for deciding to stand for re-election had some interesting overtones for Paul M. Butler, Democratic chairman. Speaking at a National Press Club luncheon in Washington (see story, opposite page) he drew laughs by citing these schedule factors: The President followed Break the Bank on ABC-TV and I've Got a Secret on CBS-TV. His talk to the nation bumped This Is Your Life on NBC-TV and the U. S. Steel Hour on CBS-TV. (Continues from page 33) about $100,000, covering time and production costs. Cancellation of NBC-TV's This Is Your Life was estimated to have cost the network about $50,000. WGMS Washington put the radio tape of the conference on the air at 11:37 a.m. via its direct line from the White House. The Wednesday night presidential address was broadcast from his office, with only one camera used. Robert Montgomery produced, avoiding production tricks. The President spoke from lengthy notes, which he read from the desk. After the 16-minute talk he introduced Mrs. Eisenhower. At that point the program seemed to get out of hand for about a minute as the President looked around, picked up his pile of notes and spoke to the little group of intimates in the office. The Star Spangled Banner was not played. In Washington, WRC-TV, keying NBC, went directly into a commentary whereas WTOP-TV inserted a commercial before switching to Douglas Edwards. Voice of America had a tape recorder outside the executive offices after the Wednesday news conference, interviewing the sidewalk crowd. Radio Free Europe provided extensive service from all its transmitters. Inquiries at the FCC about liability of networks to grant reply time to the Democrats brought this position: Networks would be obligated to grant time to any other qualified candidate for the Republican presidential nomination. The Commission referred to its question-answer political primer dated Sept. 8, 1954. Question 18 of the primer states the matter this way: Q. If the station makes time available to candidates seeking the nomination of one party for a particular office, does Sec. 315 require that it make equal time available to the candidates seeking the nomination of other parties for the same office? A. No, the Commission has held that while both primary elections or nominating conventions and general elections are comprehended within the terms of Sec. 315, the pri KENTUCKY became the 37th state to enact libel protection for broadcasters when Gov. A. B. Chandler signed a new law. Watching are Hugh Potter, WOMI Owensboro, representing Gilmore Nunn, president of Kentucky Broadcasters Assn., and Mrs. Potter. mary elections or conventions held by one party are to be considered separately from the primary elections or conventions of other parties, and therefore, insofar as Sec. 315 is concerned, "equal opportunities" need only be afforded legally qualified candidates for nomination for the same office at the same party's primary or nominating convention. Neuberger Would Have Govt. Foot Election Campaign Bills SEN. RICHARD L. NEUBERGER (D-Ore.) has introduced a bill (S 3242) that would provide government financing of federal election campaigns by paying both major parties an equal amount — this year $11,065,985. Sen. Neuberger said he introduced the bill to avoid the "evil" of large private campaign donations. He said large election campaign expenditures have become necessary because of the "tremendous cost of reaching people through modern media of communication, particularly through radio and television." Allocations to each party in a presidential election year would amount to 20 cents for each voter based on the average vote for the past two presidential elections. In a non-presidential election year, the amount would be 15 cents per voter, based on average total votes in the past two non-presidential election years. This would make $11,065,985 available to each of the major parties this year. Sen. Neuberger's bill would limit individual campaign contributions to $100 and each party would be allowed to raise from private sources an amount no larger than that given by the government. Co-sponsors of the bill were Sens. Wayne Morse (D-Ore.), James E. Murray <D-Mont.), Mike Mansfield (D-Mont.), Paul Douglas (D-Ill.) and John Sparkman (D-Ala.). If debate of the major issues is to be brought before the people, Sen. Neuberger said, it must be done through radio-tv and other modern media. He said he calls his bill the "Teddy Roosevelt Bill" because President Theodore Roosevelt first proposed it in 1907. A similar bill (HR 9488) has been introduced in the House by Rep. Frank Thompson Jr. (D-N. J.). Operational Center Planned In Chicago for Convention Tv A $600,000 tv operational center will be set up in Chicago by AT&T's Long Lines Dept. and Illinois Bell Telephone Co. in time for network coverage of the political nominating conventions this summer, it was reported last week. The center will serve as a focal switching point for network feeds to Chicago and other stations carrying the Democratic and Republican conventions next August. It now is being installed in the Illinois Bell Telephone Co. offices at 85 W. Congress St. and will be ready for service in June. Mickelson to Speak at SMU SIG MICKELSON, CBS vice president for news and public affairs, who addressed U. of Wisconsin's 1956 Journalism Institutes program last Friday on television's role in politics (see text page 32), will speak this Friday at the Southwestern Journalism Congress at Southern Methodist U., Dallas, on "The Current Status of Electronic Journalism." BILL WOULD AMEND 'EQUAL TIME' PROVISO Measure introduced by Sen. Lyndon B. Johnson would change Sec. 315 (a) of Communications Act making it necessary for stations to give same amount of air time to presidential, vice presidential candidates of major parties. A BILL which would amend Sec. 315 (a) "equal political time" provisions of the Communications Act insofar as they affect candidates for the presidency or vice presidency was introduced Tuesday by Senate Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson (D-Tex.). [At Deadlp Feb. 27]. The bill (S 3308) also revises upward the lega. amount a national political committee may spend in this year's presidential election — from the present $3 million to $12.3 million. The measure would raise the legal amounts that may be spent on behalf of candidates for U. S. senator and representative. S 3308 would leave Sec. 315 (a) unchanged as it regards all candidates except those for the presidency and vice presidency. For the latter, networks and radio-tv broadcasters would have to furnish equal time for the presidential and vice presidential candidates of the major political parties only. The measure was co-sponsored by 25 senators, including Senate Minority Leader William Knowland (R-Calif.) and the Democratic and GOP whips. It is similar to a proposal by CBS President Frank Stanton which has been introduced in the Senate and House (S 2306 and HR 6810) and on which a House subcommittee has heard testimony [B*T, Feb. 6, et seq.]. The Stanton plan, however, applies to all candidates and only to news, forum, interview, debate and similar programs, while S 3308 applies to all radio and tv programs. The Stanton plan would relieve broadcasters entirely of the "equal time" requirements on the newstype programs, while the Johnson bill provides equal time to the major party presidential and vice presidential candidates. Provision is made for candidates of major parties other than the Democratic and Republican Parties by a requirement that any other party, to qualify for equal time with the two major parties, must have polled 4% of the votes in the last presidential election or must present a petition with names totaling 1% of the vote at the past presidential election. The Sec. 315 (a) amendment is designed to relieve broadcasters of the requirement that they furnish equal time to candidates of small Page 84 • March 5, 1956 Broadcasting • Telecasting